Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Tourist

On December 13, I saw The Tourist, starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.

Elise (Jolie) is in love with Alexander, who is being followed by the police via her. He sends instructions for her to find a man on an Italian train and make them think that this man is him. A decoy, if you will. Elise finds Frank (Depp).

Frank is a Midwestern math teacher who is trying to heal from a painful relationship and decides to use Venice as his medicine.

The chemistry between the two actors isn't what you'd expect (I thought since they're both a bit kooky off-screen they might just have a special spark on-screen, but they really don't). This lack of extra pizazz doesn't make looking at either one of them any less pleasant, but but also doesn't help the all-too-simple plot.

Once Frank gets mixed up in Elise's world, all hell breaks loose for him and he becomes the sacrificial lamb in her story of slaughter. Of course, since she's fond of him, she does swing by on a boat to rescue him in time of peril, and kisses him for good measure, but everything floats to the surface too easily to achieve any depth.

The ending was mildly surprising and welcome, since the rest of the film was ridiculously predictable. The scenery, however—both landscapes and lovers—was beautiful.